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CHICK SEASON IS HERE – WILL YOU HELP SAVE PRECIOUS LIVES?

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ctober is the beginning of chick season at SANCCOB. Nearly 500 abandoned African penguin chicks are admitted to our facilities at this time every year, when their parents moult and are unable to enter the sea to fish for their young until their waterproof feathers have regrown.

Identifying, rescuing and hand-rearing these chicks at our seabird centres, is a successful conservation programme which has the power to stem the decline of the highly endangered African penguin.

But it takes time, skill, and a great deal of money … around R7 000 from admission to release for one chick. That’s why we have to turn to concerned people like you to help us pay for fish, veterinary treatment, 24-hour care, water and heating for the incubators.

Share the moment as rehabilitated African penguins are released back into the wild to live and breed as nature intended.

BE PART OF THE NEXT RESCUE

Last winter, caring supporters like you helped us save 30 oiled penguins and their 4 chicks from Bird and St Croix Islands.

The birds were taken to our seabird centre in Cape St Francis, where trained staff and volunteers washed, fed and cared for them for 4-6 weeks, while they regained their strength and the natural waterproofing of their feathers.

The chicks, which were less than three weeks old and weighed only 500 grams, were hand-reared at SANCCOB. All 34 birds were successfully released back into the wild.

WHAT WE DO

SANCCOB saves seabirds

RESCUE

SANCCOB provides a 24/7 rescue service for sick and injured seabirds and abandoned chicks. We respond to oil spill disasters along the South African coastline.

FOUND A BIRD?

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all us any time of the day or night. SANCCOB is a 24-hour Seabird Rescue Centre and will respond to all seabirds in distress, including African Penguins, Cape Gannets, Terns, Cormorants, Seagulls, Oystercatchers, Albatrosses, Petrels, Pelicans and other marine birds.

Depending on the nature of the injury and the location of the seabird, we will dispatch one of our own Rescue Units, offer stabilisation advice or put you in contact with the nearest organisation that can assist.

What to do when you find an injured/sick/oiled seabird:

Please approach any seabird with care – some, such as Cape Gannets and African Penguins, have sharp beaks.

Have with you a towel or blanket and wear protection over your hands and eyes.

Throw the towel or blanket over the bird to catch it, ensuring that the bird is able to breathe.

Place the bird in a large box if you have one, after first ensuring that there are holes for air.

Keep the bird in a warm quiet place until help arrives

THANKS TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS AND PARTNERS

FIND US

The
Southern African Foundation for the Conservation
of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) is a registered non-profit organisation (NPO 003-134) whose primary objective is to reverse the decline of seabird populations through the rescue, rehabilitation and release of ill, injured, abandoned and oiled seabirds. We are also registered with the American Fund for Charities.